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Better barriers are worth the cost: Opposing view

Border and interior enforcement strategy will restore our footing as a nation that enforces its laws, writes Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a non-profit group that favors more restrictive immigration policies.

Border and interior enforcement strategy will restore our footing as a nation that enforces laws

On Wednesday, President Trump ordered completion of border security measures that were promised by Congress in 2006 but never fulfilled. The centerpiece of the president’s order is secure barriers (a wall, perhaps) along the areas of the border required to achieve operational security. It also includes upgrades in electronic monitoring of the border and an additional 5,000 border agents. All of these things are badly needed to gain control of the border, and would help both Mexico and the U.S. eliminate cartel operations.

Who will pay is now under debate. Regardless of who pays, it is a great deal for taxpayers. U.S. taxpayers now absorb recurring costs in excess of $100 billion a year to provide basic services to illegal aliens and their children. Even at the high end of the one-time cost estimate for constructing a wall, in the $15 billion and $25 billion range, the structures are cheap at twice the price.

While border security infrastructure is important to stemming the flow of illegal immigration and protecting national security, it is just one component of an overall strategy. Equally important, we must give people reasons not to cross our borders illegally in the first place.

President Trump has also taken the first steps toward ending the magnets that draw large numbers of illegal aliens to this country, while adding deterrence through the end of “catch and release” folly. On Wednesday, he put sanctuary jurisdictions with non-cooperation policies on notice: Maintain those policies and forfeit billions of federal dollars. Trump will insist Congress send a bill that mandates the use of E-Verify by all employers, thereby finally — after years of waiting — addressing the lure of jobs in this country.